Praise the Lord! Happy New Year to you all!
God’s goodness and faithfulness sustained us and gave us another year to do the work of the Gospel. We pray that this year 2023 would be the year of God’s blessings for us all. May the Lord shower His love and grace on us all! I would also like to thank you all for partnering with us in the work of the Gospel through your continued prayers and sacrificial financial gifts. We look forward for your continued partnership this year as well.
We are doing well spiritually though sometimes not doing too good physically. Still, the Lord by His grace has been giving us strength to do the work He has called us to do. Not only He gives us strength to do the ministry, but He opens the doors for the ministry.
As I have shared with you, in our state persecution of Christians is severe. In November and December it was even worse. Thousands of new believers in Jesus have been beaten very badly and driven from their villages. Their belongings have been looted. Their houses demolished and their agriculture fields have taken by the village people. In spite of this persecution and opposition, the Lord opens doors for us and gives us the boldness to preach the Gospel.
Sometimes the Lord brings individuals on our way and gives us the opportunity to share the Gospel with them. One evening, as I was coming back home on my scooter from a shopping center, a young man asked me for a ride. He had to catch a bus and the bus stand was five minutes’ drive. I gave him a ride to the bus stop. While I was driving, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to share the Gospel with him, but I thought, “How I can share the Gospel to him in just few minutes?”
I was trying to ignore the Spirit of God, but the man began to talk to me. He asked me about my work and I told him that I am a pastor. He did not know what a pastor is. I told him that I am a Christian priest.
He said, “Oh, yes! On the 25th you have Christmas.” I asked him if he knew why we celebrate Christmas and he didn’t know that. So, I shared about the purpose of Christ coming, His death and resurrection in three minutes. I dropped him where he had to catch the bus and asked him if would like to know more about Jesus. With his consent, I gave him a copy of the New Testament (I always keep one or more copies rapped in gift pack with me).
We visited a government school with the head teacher’s permission to do an awareness program. We performed some skits to teach the students about personal hygiene. After the program, we distributed fruit to the students and then they were sent to their class rooms. As the students were in their class rooms, we had tea with the teachers. While we were having tea with the teachers, some of us went to the class rooms and sang Gospel songs and shared the Gospel with them.
We had a Christmas out-reach program for the children, which was attended by more than 60 non-Christian children. We shared the Gospel with them through a story, songs and skits. We played games with them and distributed snacks and gifts.
We also visited an nursing home with groceries and fruit. We were also given the opportunity to share the Gospel with them. We spent some time talking with the individuals and thus we could show the love of Christ to them. Many people visit them and give them groceries, but no one gives their time to them. When we spent time talking to them personally, they opened themselves to us. Some of them wept as they were touched by the love we showed them. The manager of the nursing home was so happy and asked us to revisit. He said, “Don’t bring any thing, but please visit us again.”
I had the privilege to be the chief guest in a Christmas program of a Christian hospital in the city. Many city officials and politicians were also invited. More than a thousand people were there. The Lord gave me this privilege to share the Gospel at this big gathering. I was given 15-20 minutes to share and I shared from Luke 19:10. I shared about the triple ‘S’ that is 1) Son of man, 2) Seeker and 3) Savior. Basically I shared two things: first “What is Christmas?” – God became the Son of man; secondly, the “What is the purpose of Christmas?” – 1) to the seek the lost and 2) to save the lost. The Lord helped me to finish my teaching in time. Please pray for those who heard the Gospel.
Our daughter got a job in the UK. She left our country on December 20th. We were sad that she could not be with us for Christmas, but were happy that she got the job she wanted. Please pray for God’s protection on her life.
Thank you for your prayers for us and the ministry. We pray for you all. May the dear Lord bless you richly!
Co-workers in Christ,
Pastor 15* Family
*Names and Faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.